Mark Knopfler Announces New Album 'Down The Road Wherever'

Mark Knopfler Down the Road Wherever Album Cover — Mark Knopfler’s Down The Road Wherever is due out November 16th.

Mark Knopfler has announced the details of his ninth solo album, Down The Road Wherever. Due out on November 16th, the 14-track follow-up to his 2015 album Tracker will be released through Knopfler’s own British Grove label via Blue Note Records and will be available in four formats including Standard CD, Deluxe CD, 2LP and Deluxe LP Box Set.

Down The Road Wherever is described in a press release as a collection of “unhurriedly elegant new Knopfler songs inspired by a wide range of subjects, including his early days in Deptford with Dire Straits, a stray football fan lost in a strange town, the compulsion of a musician hitching home through the snow, and a man out of time in his local greasy spoon.”

The new album was created at Knopfler’s own West London recording studio, British Grove Studios in collaboration with long-time producer Guy Fletcher. Knopfler is joined on the record by a group of top-flight musicians, including Jim Cox and Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Nigel Hitchcock on saxophone and Tom Walsh on trumpet, John McCusker on fiddle, Mike McGoldrick on whistle and flute, Glenn Worf on bass, Ian ‘Ianto’ Thomas on drums and Danny Cummings.

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While the 69-year-old rocker stays true to the folk and roots-inflected sound of his previous solo material, he does introduce new elements of jazz, funk and even hints at the of the rock leanings of earlier days. He also encourages the other musicians to put their own mark on his music.

“I think the business of making a record, from having written a song and then bringing it to musicians, it can be quite a bendy route,” Knopfler says. “It’s not just motorways all the way…. and you can end up in the occasional cul-de-sac, then you have to do a 16 point turn to try to get your truck back out on the main road, as unobtrusively as you can. That’s part of the fun of it.”

When asked about the title for the new album Knopfler explains, “Down The Road Wherever is a line from the track ‘One Song At A Time’. I remember my pal Chet Atkins once saying that he picked his way out of poverty one song at a time, and it just stuck in my mind. You get to an age where you’ve written quite a few songs. But Down The Road Wherever seems to be appropriate for me just because it’s what I’ve always done. I’ve always tried to make a record and also to keep my own geography happening in the songs.”

In celebration of the new album, Knopfler is premiering the track ‘Good On You Son.’ Check if out here. Pre-orders of Down The Road Wherever include an instant download of the new single, visit MarkKnopfler.com for more info. Pre-order customers will receive a complimentary future live recording from the forthcoming tour.

Down the Road Wherever Track Listing

1. “Trapper Man”
2. “Back On The Dance Floor”
3. “Nobody’s Child”
4. “Just A Boy Away From Home”
5. “When You Leave”
6. “Good On You Son”
7. “My Bacon Roll”
8. “Nobody Does That”
9. “Drovers’ Road”
10. “One Song At A Time”
11. “Floating Away”
12. “Slow Learner”
13. “Heavy Up”
14. “Matchstick Man”